NEW 2025 BLADE CONSTRUCTION
The next evolution of the MEEK paddle.
The visible addition of carbon in key areas, to provide strength and beauty in one lightweight performance package.
MEEK
PADDLES
BoUtique construction
2025 UPDATES
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2025 SEASON UPGRADES
by Chad Meek
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The Meek construction is an ultra lightweight, relatively stiff blade, designed to maximise power transfer. Every piece of cloth has a very specific performance purpose.
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The beautiful thing about handcrafting the blades and not being limited by a factory production line, is that I can constantly tweek the lay-up. Not a season goes by where I am not changing something about the cloth I use, the direction of the fibres or the placement of layers. I do this based on feedback and my own observations and growth as a manufacturer.
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In the 2025 lay-up I have:
1. Added additional strength for back bracing on big waves by changing the direction of fibres on the back of the blade.
​2. Added some shaft strength/thickness under the hand area.
3. And for aesthetics, made visible the uni-directional carbon that was hidden underneath the surface layers. I love this feature as it really shows just some of the elements that go into the paddle.
These features combined with the raw carbon finish on the inside of the blade, make the 2025 upgrades a blend of lightweight performace, strength and beauty. I hope you enjoy!
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Chad Meek
THE PRODUCTION STORY OF THE MEEK LIGHTWEIGHT BLADE
In other industries when seeking lightweight and strong products the manufacturing goal is optimal wet out of carbon fibre cloth and the all important cloth: resin ratio. It is a fine balance between wetting fibres out enough to give optimal strength characteristics and having excess resin that is surplus to requirement adding weight. Paddle construction methods commonly used leave excess resin in the part. By totally changing our production method to one used in other performance based industries, we have been able to achieve this optimal wet out and cloth:resin ratio. The results of the change were 40-50grams per blade (20% reduction) in weight. This is a huge change in the feel of a paddle.
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We continued on our mission for performance and began to look into different surface finishes to see how they effected water feel. Historically there have been a few high performance paddlers who have sanded the surface of their blade to get better water feel. We explored this concept some more and researched the theory. We tried a rough surface on the back of the blade initially, and we also tried changes to the inside of the blade. After testing for months, we totally changed our design to gain a rough/raw carbon inside surface finish.
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As an ongoing process. We listen to our cusomers, explore other manufacturing industries and naturally evolve our knowledge. We are always developing and improving our products. We aim to make sure we are not making any compromises in the strength of the blades. Along the way we have added more carbon fibre in to the areas of greatest force and extra protection in the lip, tips of the blades and neck area. In 2025 we added more carbon to protect against back bracing on big waves.
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The combination of ultra light blades, surface finish, weight reduction and strength give us the feel and sensory feedback we have been striving for.
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The combination of the weight reduction and blade surface feel amazing and this paddle lay-up outperforms even our own expectations on the water. We hope you love it as much as we do!
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